Written By Krishna on Sunday, November 25, 2012 | 11:24 PM

NEW
DELHI – Ganga is considered the sacred river and the deep bond that the
people of India share with this spiritual entity is immense. Now this
bond is making many pay a high price, after being diagnosed with cancer.
The river was placed on the list of five most polluted rivers back in
2007. Adding to the state of its pollution in is the raised amount of
industrial waste which is drained out into the river ravaging it further
into a life threatening source, contradicting its real purpose.
Traces of heavy metals and mercury has been detected in the river
water says a survey compiled by the National Cancer Registry Programme
(NCRG) supported by the Indian Council of Medical Research. It has
resulted in the largest number of gall bladder cancer cases worldwide,
especially among the Indian population settled on the river plains.
The river was known to be threatening to the lives of the many people
who consume and use its water even before the report was compiled. The
pollution is also a concern to the lives of over 140 fish species, about
90 amphibian species and the rare Ganga river dolphins. There was an
initiation of cleaning up the river with the Ganga Action Plan. It
didn’t culminate because of the deficient number of technical expertise
and corruption, no good environmental planning, no support from
religious authorities and due to religious beliefs and Indian
traditions.
With the high level of gall bladder cancer cases due to the river
water Dr Sameer Kaul, a cancer consultant with Apollo Hospital in Delhi,
remarks “High gall bladder cancer cases are understandable. The gall
bladder is a digestive organ and if anything goes wrong with it, the
causative is linked with food and water,” as reported by Deccan
Chronicle.
As per the survey done in Bihar, UP and West Bengal by the NCRG it
shows that in every 10,000 people reported 450 men and 1000 women suffer
with gall bladder cancer. India also shows the highest number of
prostate cancer cases. Kaul further explained “A high intake of animal
protein is known to cause prostrate cancer. The people living in the
river basin take large quantities of fish which are also infected by
these polluting waters.”
“The Ganga water is now filled with arsenic, lead, cadium, fluoride
and heavy metals,” said Dr Jaideep Biswas, director of the Chittaranjan
National Cancer Institute in Kolkata, this has drastically increased the
number of cancer cases near the flood plains of Ganga.
These pollutants drop down to the river bed, which eventually
contaminate the ground water used by the public for drinking and
cooking. Because of these pollutants 25 people in every one lakh
population suffer with different types of cancer like urinary bladder,
kidneys, food pipe, liver and skin cancer.
Rajender Singh, the ‘waterman of India’ has said that with the series
of meeting held by the National Ganga River Basin Authority it has
caught the attention of the prime minister towards the mounting
pollution in Ganga. “It is for the centre to press on the state
governments to ban pollutants from being discharged into the Ganga.
Unfortunately, nothing is being done on the ground and the result is
that our national river is getting more polluted,” as reported by Deccan
Chronicle.
Dr Kaul also stated that by 2020, if the government doesn’t employ
stringent measures to curtail the environmental pollution, cancer will
be an epidemic in India.
Apart from the industrial wastes Ganga also gets contaminated by
sewers, religious offerings packed in non-biodegradable plastic, the
ashes and bones thrown in Ganga after cremation. The river is believed
to wash away the sins but this amount of dirt and pollution is like
pushing its limits beyond its possible capacity.